Investing.com – Cotton futures were up for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, as severe drought conditions in Texas continued to buoy prices of the fiber and added to fears over tightening U.S. supplies.
On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, cotton futures for October delivery traded at USD1.0502 a pound during European morning trade, gaining 0.26%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.45% to trade at a daily high of SD1.0569 a pound.
Industry weather group MDA Federal said on Tuesday that it expected hot and dry weather to linger across most parts of Texas through the second week of September.
The weather group added that conditions that caused the drought, which is the worst on record since 1895, will probably persist through the end of September.
More than 50% of the Southern U.S. region was experiencing “exceptional” drought, according to the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s U.S. Drought Monitor, with Texas and Oklahoma experiencing one of the driest July’s on record.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly crop-progress report on Monday that approximately 41% of U.S. cotton crops were rated in ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ condition as of August 28, up significantly from 12% in the same week a year earlier.
U.S. crops rated ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ fell to 30% from 31% week earlier.
In Texas, the largest cotton-growing state in the U.S., nearly 60% of cotton crops were rated ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’, while only 14% were ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ condition.
The adverse weather conditions prompted the U.S. Plains Cotton Growers, a trade association, to lower its forecast for cotton output in the U.S. Southern region to 2 million bales in the 2011-12 marketing season, significantly below 5.3 million bales a year earlier.
The U.S. is the world’s third largest cotton producer and the biggest exporter of the fiber.
Elsewhere, on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat for December delivery shed 0.6% to trade at USD7.8413 a bushel, corn for December delivery fell 0.48% to trade at USD7.7038 a bushel, while soybeans for November delivery edged 0.21% lower to trade at USD14.5213 a bushel.
On the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange, cotton futures for October delivery traded at USD1.0502 a pound during European morning trade, gaining 0.26%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.45% to trade at a daily high of SD1.0569 a pound.
Industry weather group MDA Federal said on Tuesday that it expected hot and dry weather to linger across most parts of Texas through the second week of September.
The weather group added that conditions that caused the drought, which is the worst on record since 1895, will probably persist through the end of September.
More than 50% of the Southern U.S. region was experiencing “exceptional” drought, according to the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s U.S. Drought Monitor, with Texas and Oklahoma experiencing one of the driest July’s on record.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly crop-progress report on Monday that approximately 41% of U.S. cotton crops were rated in ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ condition as of August 28, up significantly from 12% in the same week a year earlier.
U.S. crops rated ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ fell to 30% from 31% week earlier.
In Texas, the largest cotton-growing state in the U.S., nearly 60% of cotton crops were rated ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’, while only 14% were ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ condition.
The adverse weather conditions prompted the U.S. Plains Cotton Growers, a trade association, to lower its forecast for cotton output in the U.S. Southern region to 2 million bales in the 2011-12 marketing season, significantly below 5.3 million bales a year earlier.
The U.S. is the world’s third largest cotton producer and the biggest exporter of the fiber.
Elsewhere, on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat for December delivery shed 0.6% to trade at USD7.8413 a bushel, corn for December delivery fell 0.48% to trade at USD7.7038 a bushel, while soybeans for November delivery edged 0.21% lower to trade at USD14.5213 a bushel.